The paper relates to separate initiatives based on a common philosophy that higher education needs to be more relevant and responsive to the real learning needs of individual students and their employers. In particular, the authors describe how the learning paradigms facilitate the alignment of the career aspirations of the learner with the strategic Human Resources needs of employers, how pre-existing learning is evaluated as a foundation for further learning, how learners are made more aware of their own learning, and how the cultural changes in both academia and business impact on an improved overall approach to learning and development of people. To achieve real quality of learning, it is argued, it is necessary to address both specific learning objectives and the nature of the relationship between the learner, business and academia.